Veggie Punk Kitchen

Vegetarian cooking to a punk soundtrack.

Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins

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Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are densely packed with fruity delight, and they are vegan and delicious. With or without frosting, they are a great dessert.

Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are densely packed with fruity delight, and they are vegan and delicious. With or without frosting, they are a great dessert.Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are one of my few incursions into baking territory so far. I was a little intimidated by all the fabulous dessert oriented blogs out there. I went a little overboard with the toppings on this. Toasted coconut, chopped pistachios, berries, and chocolate mint leaves from my garden.

Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are densely packed with fruity delight, and they are vegan and delicious. With or without frosting, they are a great dessert.

Earth Balance has some great products that I use frequently:

Earth Balance Soy Free Buttery Sticks – I used these for this recipe.

Earth Balance Vegan Cheddar Mac and Cheese – This really satisfies my mac n cheese cravings.

Earth Balance Coconut Peanut Butter (crunchy) – Just yum!

  • I’m not getting anything from Earth Balance this, I just dig their products.

K.I.S.S. stands for keep it simple stupid. I need to heed that acronym in the kitchen. I probably could have scaled back on the party on muffin top. Maybe blending the coconut, berries, and mint into the batter. While I really, REALLY liked the frosting, you can make these without it if you’re avoiding added sugar/calories. I made a double batch of the frosting so I could use it on other things.

Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are densely packed with fruity delight, and they are vegan and delicious. With or without frosting, they are a great dessert.

Can we talk about flavor? As I spend more time cooking (and tasting) my palate is slowly becoming more acclimated to various flavors and more sharply refined. Things I used to enjoy no longer appeal to me and things that I thought I didn’t like are now some of my favorites.

When we were in grade school, many of us learned that there were four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty and bitter. Now there’s a new taste to learn and it’s called umami (pronounced “oo-mommy”). Actually, while the term is new to us, it’s not new to the Japanese, who have used the term to describe the “fifth taste” since the early 1900s. What exactly is the umami taste? Well, there’s no English word that’s synonymous with umami, however it’s most often described as a savory or meaty taste.

Salty, umami, sour, bitter, and sweet are my personal order of preferred flavors. That explains my lack of dessert cooking. Most sweet things are overwhelming to my taste buds. I’m not a fan of chocolate. horror of horrors right? I know.  I usually pass on most cake or pie offered to me.

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Blueberry Lemon & Pistachio Muffins
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ Cups oat flour
  • 1 Cup shelled roasted pistachios (pistachios without the shells)
  • 1 Tsp. baking soda
  • ¼ Tsp. salt
  • ¼ Cup fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)
  • ½ Cup unsweetened almond milk
  • 1 Tbsp. Earth Balance vegan soy free buttery sticks
  • ⅔ Cup sugar
  • 1 Tsp. almond extract
  • ½ Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • ¾ Cup fresh blueberries
  • For the vegan lemon buttercream
  • ½ Cup Earth Balance vegan soy free buttery stick
  • 1 Cup organic powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • For garnish: 2 Tbsp. chopped pistachios
  • 2 Tbsp. toasted coconut flakes
  • Fresh chocolate mint leaves
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Line a cupcake pan with liners and spray the inside of the liners with cooking spray.
  3. Add pistachios to a food processor or blender
  4. Process until pistachios are finely ground.
  5. Transfer to a large bowl and add in oat flour, baking soda and salt.
  6. Whisk together to combine.
  7. In a separate large bowl, mix together lemon juice, almond milk, melted butter, sugar, almond extract, apple cider vinegar and cornstarch until well combined.
  8. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
  9. Gently fold in blueberries.
  10. Divide batter evenly into cupcake liners, filling ⅔ of the way full.
  11. Bake for 23-27 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
  12. Transfer to wire rack to cool for 5 minutes.
  13. Remove muffins from pan and place on a wire rack to cool
  14. Let muffins cool completely (at least 1 hour),
  15. Make the frosting:
  16. Using a stand or hand mixer, whip butter, powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest together until fluffy
  17. Toast coconut in dry pan for 3 - 4 minutes. toss often
  18. Frost the cupcakes however you like and garnish with coconut, pistachios and extra blueberries,

Blueberry Lemon Pistachio Muffins are densely packed with fruity delight, and they are vegan and delicious. With or without frosting, they are a great dessert.

Cooking tunes: Concrete Blonde – The Essential. Veruca Salt – American Thighs.  L7 – Smell the Magic. The Donnas – Gold Medal.

Grrl power!

Writing tunes:  The Distillers – Sing Sing Death House. X-Ray Spex – Germ Free Adolescents. Bikini Kill – The Singles. Babes in Toyland – Fontanelle.

Blackberry Basil Empanadas

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Blackberry Basil Empanadas are a  sweet-tooths dream. Flaky pie crust wrapped around a creamy, fruity center.

Blackberry Basil Empanadas are a sweet-tooths dream. Flaky pie crust wrapped around a creamy, fruity center.Blackberry Basil Empanadas were an experiment in unusual flavor combinations. I like how this one turned out. I also got to use some herbs from my kitchen garden. The chocolate mint smells great and adds hints of sweetness to the berries while the basil is a subtle contrast.

Here are some other unique flavor combinations that sound exciting to me:

  • Asian pear & cracked black pepper
  • Blood orange & cardamom
  • Figs & fennel
  • Raspberry & thyme
  • Strawberry & coriander
  • Watermelon & pineapple mint

I know I just posted savory empanadas, but I was dying to try these. As this blog moves along, you’ll see more too, trust. Hand pies are the bomb, whatever the filling. Do you have a personal favorite? Let me know, and I’ll definitely give them a shot at some point.

To save a little time, I used the 2 pack of the Pillsbury pie crust and just used a cookie cutter to make the rounds. I have heard mention of an empanada maker, but I’ve yet to spot one. One of those would be handy. Especially if you’re making a sizable batch.

For my vegan friends: You can substitute vegan cream cheese and a flax egg as well as your own vegan version of the dough. I sometimes use this pretty simple recipe and put it into the refrigerator to set:

  • 1 cup spelt flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon coconut sugar
  • 3 tablespoons cold coconut oil
  • 3 tablespoons applesauce
  • 1/4 cup ice water, plus extra if needed
  1. Add the flour, salt, and coconut sugar to a large bowl. Using a fork, cut the coconut oil into the flour. Mix in the applesauce.
  2. Begin to add the water in slowly, just until the dough comes together.
  3. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 45 minutes.
  4. Once chilled, remove from fridge and let warm up on the counter for 30 minutes.

Enjoy the Blackberry Basil Empanadas warm or at room temperature. Refrigerate baked empanadas for up to a few days. Reheat in a toaster oven or bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Added bonus! I used the excess liquid from draining the berries/sugar to make blackberry mint lemonade. I just added sweet mint leaves and 2 cans of Spindrift lemon seltzer, and a squeeze of lime. It’s pretty sweet, so add more water if needed.

Blackberry Basil Empanadas are a sweet-tooths dream. Flaky pie crust wrapped around a creamy, fruity center.

Save Print
Blackberry Basil Empanadas
Author: 
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Mexican
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 10
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pkg. Pillsbury pie crusts (they come in 2 rolls per package)
  • ¼ cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 pkg. blackberries
  • 1 lime, zest and juice
  • ½ cup cream cheese (or soy cream cheese).
  • 2 Tbsp. sweet basil - fresh, chopped fine, keep some bits aside for garnish
  • 1 Tbsp. chocolate mint leaves - chopped fine
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg white (or flax egg)
Instructions
  1. In a small saucepan add water and sugar over low heat
  2. Sugar melts quickly so stir continually until dissolved. 5 mins.
  3. Combine the berries and melted sugar in a saucepan
  4. Add lime zest, lime juice, herbs, & salt
  5. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally
  6. Remove most of the liquid with strainer over bowl and set bowl aside
  7. Coarsely mash berries with potato masher
  8. Transfer mixture to a bowl and refrigerate until thickened for at least two hours
  9. Mix herbs with cream cheese, fold in berries
  10. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees
  11. On lightly floured surface, roll dough ⅛ inch thick.
  12. Use round cookie cutter or cup to cut out 3 to 4 inch circles
  13. Add a small amount of mixture to the center of circle
  14. Wet the outer edge of circle with water using fingertip
  15. Fold in half, pressing edges together
  16. Seal off the edges by pressing down with a fork
  17. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.
  18. Brush each empanada with an egg white wash using pastry brush or fingers
  19. Puncture two slits on the top of each empanada with a knife .
  20. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper
  21. Place them on the cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden
  22. For added sweetness, sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon & sugar
  23. Place on baking rack to cool

Blackberry Basil Empanadas are a sweet-tooths dream. Flaky pie crust wrapped around a creamy, fruity center.